Incremental Validity of Components of Mindfulness in the Prediction of Satisfaction with Life and Depression

Self-report measures of mindfulness have consistently demonstrated positive relationships with well-being and inverse relationships with depression symptoms. The goal of this study was to extend the existing literature to include a test of the incremental validity of the components of mindfulness (as measured by the four factors of the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills [KIMS]; Baer et al. Assessment, 11, 191–206, 2004) and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS; Brown and Ryan Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 822–848, 2003) in the prediction of satisfaction with life (relative to self-esteem) and depression (relative to negative cognitions) among a sample of 365 college students. Results revealed only KIMS Observe accounted for a significant amount variance relative to self-esteem in the prediction of satisfaction with life, and in the prediction of depression symptoms, only KIMS Accept without Judgment accounted for a significant amount of variance relative to negative cognitions. These results are discussed in relation to the measurement of mindfulness and methods used to assess the validity of these scales.     

Measuring Satisfaction with Religiosity and Its Contribution to the Personal Well-Being Index in a Muslim Sample

This research aims to explore Satisfaction with Religiosity/Spirituality (SR/S) in a large sample of Muslims (1388 males, 1172 females) from Algeria. It also provides empirical evidence for the addition of a SR/S Domain item to the Personal Well-Being Index (PWI). A questionnaire dealing with satisfaction with a range of personal and societal domains was used. Results support previous findings (Wills Journal of Happiness Studies 10(1):49–69, 2009), and are in agreement with the recommendations of the International Well-being Group (Group discussion, 2006; IWG 2006). The new domain item makes a statistically significant — albeit a slight — contribution in predicting general satisfaction with life (SWL). Notably, higher satisfaction with religiosity/spirituality is found in women compared to men, married individuals compared to single ones, and inhabitants of the Sahara desert locations compared to people from other regions of Algeria.     

A Preliminary Investigation of Quality of Life Satisfaction Reports in Emerging Adults With and Without Developmental Coordination Disorder

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) affects around 5% of the population and is diagnosed on the basis of poor motor coordination. Although we know rather little about the lifetime consequences of this disorder, it is clear that significant difficulties remain through adolescence and into adulthood for the majority. It is also clear that significant psychosocial consequences exist for many individuals with DCD. In the current study, quality of life satisfaction was investigated in a group of emerging adults with and without DCD using the Quality of Life Satisfaction Questionnaire (Endicott et al. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 29, 321–326, 1993). Overall, the group of adults with DCD reported significantly lower levels of quality of life satisfaction across all domains on the scale. This finding has important implications for consideration of early and later intervention for these individuals, as well as for studies to consider the risk and protective factors at play in long-term outcome with respect to both the motor skills and psychosocial aspects of this disorder.     

Adolescents’ Life Satisfaction During the Transition to Post-Comprehensive Education: Antecedents and Consequences

The present four-wave longitudinal study, conducted in Finland, investigated the extent to which life satisfaction changed among adolescents during the transition from comprehensive school to an academic or a vocational track. The participants were 15-year-old adolescents (Time 1: N = 687, Time 2: N = 642, Time 3: N = 818, Time 4: N = 749) who filled in the Diener et al. (J Pers Assess 49: 71–75, 1985). Satisfaction With Life Scale twice during their final term of comprehensive school and twice after the transition either to upper secondary or vocational education. At comprehensive school they reported their academic achievement, expected educational track, educational aspirations, self-esteem, and background information, while at the last measurement point they reported their school engagement and attained educational track. Latent Growth Modeling showed, first, that life satisfaction increased during the educational transition. Second, the higher the adolescents’ academic achievement and self-esteem, the higher the level of their life satisfaction during the transition. Third, among girls, the lower their self-esteem, the more their life satisfaction increased during the educational transition. Fourth, among both boys and girls, a high level of life satisfaction during the transition predicted academic track and school engagement at the last measurement point. Finally, among girls, an increase in life satisfaction during the transition predicted school engagement and an academic track. The results support the stage-environment fit theory according to which the nature of the educational environment is more important than the transition per se for changes in adolescents’ life satisfaction (see Eccles and Midgley in Research on motivation in education. Academic Press, New York, pp. 139–186, 1989).     

Subjective Well-Being in Cities: A Multidimensional Concept of Individual, Social and Cultural Variables

Subjective indicators of well-being have been proposed as guides for development policy since development is not limited to material wealth (Veenhoven, Social Indicators Research, 58:33–45 2002; Diener, Journal of Happiness Studies 7:4–397 2006). Development studies have suffered from a materialistic bias (Easterlin, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 27:35–47 1995). The paper presents a comparative cross-cultural investigation of domains of subjective well-being (SWB) and a global measure of Satisfaction with Life as a Whole (SWLS) in three cities: Bogotá-Colombia; Belo-Horizonte-Brazil and Toronto-Canada. The Personal and National Wellbeing Indexes (PWI and NWI) developed by the International Wellbeing Group (IWG, Cummins, Social Indicators Research 38:303–328 1996; Cummins et al., Social Indicators Network News 69:8 2002) as well as the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS, Diener et al., Journal of Personality Assessment 49:71–75 1985) were applied and successfully validated at the city level. The cities chosen have similar democratic institutions but different cultures and different “objective” indicators of development. Significant differences across cities as well as significant interaction effects were found for the subjective well-being indexes and demographic variables. Based on these results, we propose that NWI may be seen as a contextual antecedent of PWI, consistent with our view that individual evaluations of SWB may be determined by dispositional factors (top-down), context (bottom-up domains) and cultural values. The validation of the subjective well-being indexes in diverse cultural contexts is an important contribution in a field that has been mainly dominated by European, American and Australian samples.     

How Does Residents’ Satisfaction with Community Services Influence Quality of Life (QOL) Outcomes?

Grzeskowiak et al. [Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy 33(2):1–36, 2003] conducted a study that empirically tested a model that integrates the relationships among determinants and outcomes of residents’ satisfaction with community services. We build on their model in attempt to explain how residents’ satisfaction with community services influence satisfaction with the community at large (community well-being) and satisfaction with life (quality of life). Specifically, we hypothesized and empirically demonstrated for the most part that satisfaction with a variety of community services (e.g., services related to housing, education, government, healthcare, employment, religion, public safety, retailing, transportation, and leisure) affect satisfaction with the community and life overall through satisfaction in a variety of life domains (e.g., family, social, leisure, health, financial, cultural, consumer, work, spiritual, and environmental domains).     

Does the asymmetry effect inflate the temporal expansion of odd stimuli?

Tse et al. (Percept Psychophys 66:1171–1189, 2004) reported that participants tend to overestimate the duration of an oddball stimulus. The size of this effect was much larger than the one reported by Ulrich et al. (Psychol Res 70:77–87, 2006). More crucially, the effect in the study of Tse et al. already emerged at short standard durations, arguing against the arousal account proposed by Ulrich et al. This study investigated whether the oddball effect reported by Tse et al. was inflated by an asymmetry effect, that is, by an asymmetrical distribution of physical comparison durations around the duration of the standard. Experiment 1 demonstrated that an asymmetry effect could mimic an oddball effect. Therefore, we conducted Experiment 2 to replicate the results by Tse et al. employing not only their original procedure but also an adaptive procedure that rather avoids an asymmetry effect. Both psychophysical procedures in this experiment revealed an oddball effect, which, however, was of smaller size than the one reported by Tse et al. Furthermore, this effect emerged only at longer standard durations, which is in agreement with the arousal account as the underlying mechanism of this robust temporal illusion.     

Physical Activity, Life Satisfaction, and Self-Rated Health of Middle School Students

Little research has examined the association between life satisfaction, self-rated health (SRH), and physical activity concurrently for middle school students. A convenience sample of 245 students in grades 7 and 8 was surveyed about physical activity, life satisfaction, and SRH using the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 2005 Middle School Youth Risk Behavior Survey. ANOVA analyses revealed significantly reduced life satisfaction for females who reported not engaging in vigorous physical activity during the past 7 days [p < .01, effect size (ES) = .75]. Significantly reduced life satisfaction was detected for both males (p < .001, ES = .66) and females (p < .0001, ES = .80) who reported not playing on sports teams. Additionally, logistic regression analyses showed the odds of reporting fair/poor SRH increased 5.4 times for males (CI = 1.30–22.39, p < .05) and 30.9 times for females (CI = 3.74–255.43, p < .001) who reported not playing on sports teams. Preliminary findings suggest physical activity and sports participation is associated with improved life satisfaction and SRH for middle school students. In addition, although some gender differences were observed, consistent findings for sports participation suggest sports participation may carry multiple social, mental, and physical benefits for youth.     

Life Satisfaction,Sense of Coherence and Job Precariousness in Italian Young Adults

We investigated (in 95 Italians aged 19–29, of both genders, and who were all facing the transition to job): (1) the relationships between job precariousness, life satisfaction (LS), and the perception that the reality is comprehensible, manageable and meaningful (sense of coherence—SOC—Antonovsky 1987); (2) the potential buffering effect of SOC versus job precariousness on LS. The findings showed that (a) young adults with a higher level of education perceive less LS and higher manageability, and youths with a precarious job perceive reality as less controllable, manageable and meaningful; (b) manageability is positively related with satisfaction with close relationships and meaningfulness is positively related with LS in general; (c) meaningfulness also buffers the effect of job precariousness on satisfaction for close relationships; among precarious workers there is a curvilinear relationship with LS: youths with intermediate meaningfulness also show higher LS with respect to both low and high meaningfulness.     

A functional account of degrees of minimal chemical life

This paper describes and defends the view that minimal chemical life essentially involves the chemical integration of three chemical functionalities: containment, metabolism, and program (Rasmussen et al. in Protocells: bridging nonliving and living matter, 2009a). This view is illustrated and explained with the help of CMP and Rasmussen diagrams (Rasmussen et al. In: Rasmussen et al. (eds.) in Protocells: bridging nonliving and living matter, 71–100, 2009b), both of which represent the key chemical functional dependencies among containment, metabolism, and program. The CMP model of minimal chemical life gains some support from the broad view of life as open-ended evolution, which I have defended elsewhere (Bedau in The philosophy of artificial life, 1996; Bedau in Artificial Life, 4:125–140, 1998). Further support comes from the natural way the CMP model resolves the puzzle about whether life is a matter of degree.     

Academic Characteristics of Early Adolescents with Higher Levels of Life Satisfaction

Research related to students’ global life satisfaction and their academic and behavioral functioning has yielded varying findings. Some researchers have suggested the possibility that very high levels of life satisfaction may yield decrements in productivity (Oishi et al. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2, 346–360 2007). Middle school students (N?=?917) were surveyed regarding their global life satisfaction, school engagement, and academic performance. We evaluated whether the associations were best characterized linearly or non-linearly (i.e., quadratic) to clarify the associations between life satisfaction and the various academic performance variables. Differing from the findings of Oishi et al., our findings failed to reveal support for the hypothesis of a negative quadratic relation between life satisfaction and most of the academic or student engagement outcomes we examined. To the contrary, statistically significant, positive linear relations were observed between life satisfaction and GPA, math standardized test scores as well as cognitive, emotional and behavioral engagement. A linear relation was not observed between life satisfaction and English Language Arts standardized test scores. Consistent with previous research, these findings provide further support that higher levels of life satisfaction are related to higher levels of student engagement and academic performance in early adolescents. Furthermore, the results are consistent with efforts to expand education reforms to incorporate goals related to increasing students’ well-being as well as their academic success.     

Affect Balance as Mediating Variable Between Effective Psychological Functioning and Satisfaction with Life

Well-being is a multidimensional construct which includes hedonic and eudaimonic aspects. Hedonic well-being is focused on happiness, while eudaimonic well-being is focused on developing of human potential. Most hedonic psychologists have used measures of subjective well-being (SWB), which have two components: a cognitive evaluation of the satisfaction with one’s life as a whole, and an affective component that refers to predominance of positive over negative affect (or affect balance). Eudaimonic well-being, sometimes labelled psychological well-being (PWB), includes subjective evaluations of effective psychological functioning. Ryff’s (1989a) model of PWB, which is included within the eudaimonic perspective, conceives well-being as a multidimensional construct made up of life attitudes like self-acceptance, positive relation with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and personal growth. Research has revealed that SWB and PWB are related, but, they are also distinguishable, since they were differentially related to various criteria. The main goal of the present study was to explore how these two different aspects of well-being are related. Two hundred and fifty-five individuals (114 male and 141 female, mean age = 36.46, standard deviation = 10.83) participated in the study. All the components of well-being were strongly interrelated, and mediational analysis showed that affect balance mediated the relationships between some positive life attitudes and satisfaction with life. Future research, using longitudinal designs, should clearly establish the causal relationships between the different aspects of well-being.     

Anticipation of cognitive demand during decision-making

An abundance of evidence indicates that action selection is guided, at least in certain contexts, by anticipation of action outcomes. In one particularly clear demonstration of this principle, Bechara and colleagues, studying a gambling task, observed phasic skin conductance responses just prior to actions associated with a relatively high risk of monetary loss (Bechara et al. in J Neurosci 19:5473–5481, 1999; Bechara et al. in Science 275:1293–1295, 1997; Bechara et al. in Cereb Cortex 6:215–225, 1996). In the present work, we tested for the same effect in a paradigm where choices resulted not in differential monetary outcomes, but in differential requirements for subsequent mental effort. In two experiments, we observed an anticipatory skin conductance response prior to actions resulting in a high level of cognitive demand. This finding indicates that requirements for effortful cognitive control are anticipated during action selection. We argue, based on convergent evidence, that such anticipation may not only trigger preparation; it may also play a direct role in effort-based decision-making.     

Reliability and Validity of a Brief Life Satisfaction Scale with a High School Sample

This study investigated the psychometric properties of a brief life satisfaction scale, the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (Huebner et al., 2004a), with a high school age sample. The results revealed preliminary evidence of internal consistency, two-week test–retest reliability, construct validity, and criterion-related validity for research purposes. Expected demographic effects were also obtained. Overall, the findings suggest that the BMSLSS may provide a useful indicator of adolescent life satisfaction in studies in which brevity of measures is an important consideration.     

The redundancy of recursion and infinity for natural language

An influential line of thought claims that natural language and arithmetic processing require recursion, a putative hallmark of human cognitive processing (Chomsky in Evolution of human language: biolinguistic perspectives. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 45–61, 2010; Fitch et al. in Cognition 97(2):179–210, 2005; Hauser et al. in Science 298(5598):1569–1579, 2002). First, we question the need for recursion in human cognitive processing by arguing that a generally simpler and less resource demanding process—iteration—is sufficient to account for human natural language and arithmetic performance. We argue that the only motivation for recursion, the infinity in natural language and arithmetic competence, is equally approachable by iteration and recursion. Second, we submit that the infinity in natural language and arithmetic competence reduces to imagining infinite embedding or concatenation, which is completely independent from the ability to implement infinite processing, and thus, independent from both recursion and iteration. Furthermore, we claim that a property of natural language is physically uncountable finity and not discrete infinity.     

The Role of Postformal Cognitive Development in Death Acceptance

This research is the first to test the relation between postformal complex thought (PFT) and death acceptance. College students (N = 225) completed the PFT questionnaire (Cartwright et al., J Adult Dev, 2009), the Need for Cognition scale (Cacioppo et al., J Personality Assess 48:3, 1984), and Klug’s Death Acceptance Scale, comprised of death integration and confrontation scales (Klug and Sinha, Omega 18:229–235, 1987). A series of hierarchical regression analyses showed PFT made a significant contribution to death acceptance over the contributions of other cognitive and demographic variables, as predicted. Further, PFT made a significant contribution to death integration but not to death confrontation. These results are consistent with contemporary theories of adult cognitive development and PFT.     

Persistent pursuit of need-satisfying goals leads to increased happiness: A 6-month experimental longitudinal study

University-based community members (N = 181) participated in a four-wave, 6-month longitudinal experiment designed to increase treatment participants’ happiness levels. Participants were randomly assigned to set goals either to improve their life circumstances (comparison condition) or to increase their feelings of autonomy, competence, or relatedness in life (treatment conditions). We hypothesized that sustained gains in happiness would be observed only in the three treatment conditions, and that even these gains would last only when there was continuing goal engagement. Results supported these predictions and the sustainable happiness model on which they were based (Lyubomirsky et al. in Rev Gen Psychol 9:111–131, 2005). Furthermore, participants with initial positive attitudes regarding happiness change obtained larger benefits. We conclude that maintained happiness gains are possible, but that they require both “a will and a proper way” (Lyubomirsky et al. in Becoming happier takes both a will and a proper way: two experimental longitudinal interventions to boost well-being, 2009).     

Using dual-process theory and analogical transfer to explain facilitation on a hypothetico-deductive reasoning task

Using the analogical transfer paradigm, the present study investigated the competing explanations of Girotto and Legrenzi (Psychological Research 51: 129–135, 1993) and Griggs, Platt, Newstead, and Jackson (Thinking and Reasoning 4: 1–14, 1998) for facilitation on the SARS version of the THOG problem, a hypothetico-deductive reasoning task. Girotto and Legrenzi argue that facilitation is based on logical analysis of the task [System 2 reasoning in Evans’s (Trends in Cognitive Sciences 7: 454–459, 2003) dual-process account of reasoning] while Griggs et al. maintain that facilitation is due to an attentional heuristic produced by the wording of the problem (System 1 reasoning). If Girotto and Legrenzi are correct, then System 2 reasoning, which is volitional and responsible for deductive reasoning, should be elicited, and participants should comprehend the solution principle of the THOG task and exhibit analogical transfer. However, if Griggs et al. are correct, then System 1 reasoning, which is responsible for heuristic problem solving strategies such as an attentional heuristic, should occur, and participants should not abstract the solution principle and transfer should not occur. Significant facilitation (68 and 82% correct) was only observed for the two SARS source problems, but significant analogical transfer did not occur. This lack of transfer suggests that System 1 reasoning was responsible for the facilitation observed in the SARS problem, supporting Griggs et al.’s attentional heuristic explanation. The present results also underscore the explanatory value of using analogical transfer rather than facilitation as the criterion for problem understanding.     

Happiness and Unhappiness in the Developing World: Life Satisfaction Among Sex Workers, Dump-Dwellers, Urban Poor, and Rural Peasants in Nicaragua

Little in-depth research exists on subjective well-being (SWB) in the developing world, especially among the poor and extremely poor. Biswas-Diener and Diener (Soc Indic Res 55:329–352, 2001) employed a study design in the slums of Calcutta, India to address this gap in SWB research. They found slightly negative global SWB but slightly positive domain specific satisfaction in their sample. The current study employs the same paradigm and investigates the SWB of female sex workers, city dump dwellers, and urban and rural poor in Nicaragua, Central America. The current study was able to replicate the Biswas-Diener and Diener (Soc Indic Res 55:329–352, 2001) finding of slightly negative SWB for marginalized urban groups. In addition, an overall model for predicting SWB was constructed using personality dispositions, objective income, social support, and social rootedness as predictors. Social support and objective income were the only significant predictors in the model but more zero order relations existed. Additionally, this study contrasted urban poor versus rural poor and found no significant SWB differences.     

Mispredicting Happiness Across the Adult Lifespan: Implications for the Risky Health Behaviour of Young People

Using data from a 2007 survey in Northern Ireland (representative sample, N = 1036), we replicate and extend the US-based findings of Lacey et al. (Journal of Happiness Studies 7:167–182, 2006). Consistent with Lacey et al., we find that young people mispredict happiness levels in old age, believing—wrongly—that happiness declines with age. We explore the possible implications of this under-estimation of happiness in old age for the risky health behaviours of young people. We find that young male binge drinkers are particularly prone to thinking that happiness declines with age.